5 Herbs to Help You Get Amazing Sleep

Get your snooze on like never before!

If you find yourself struggling to get to sleep at night, you’re not alone. Between all the tossing and turning, sometimes it feels impossible to quiet your mind long enough to drift off to sleep. For a long time, I thought it was my busy lifestyle – along with bad eating habits brought on by stress – that was to blame. Most recently, I kept reading about how technology and artificial light was affecting my sleep, but in this day and age, it’s almost impossible to unplug completely. After all, even my alarm clock is a part of my smart phone. Needless to say, I’ve been on the hunt for a solution.

After a lot of research, and some trial and error, I had a major break-through! I found an article suggesting that herbs might help me get better sleep. On a long-shot, I followed the advice I read, and I couldn’t believe the results. It worked! I bet you might find some help in these herbs to help you get amazing sleep, too!

Your sleep is completely affected by natural circadian rhythms. They not only control what time you fall asleep and wake up, but they also affect whether you might wake up in the middle of the night. These rhythms can be thrown off by a number of different reasons. Stress and anxiety can be big influences on your ability to get good, quality sleep. Soaring cortisol levels definitely invite insomnia into your life, along with blood sugar fluctuations and an overactive mind.

Luckily, these five herbs to help you get amazing sleep are powerful remedies. They promise relaxation, synthesize hormones, and can work hard to declutter an overcrowded mind. Combine these herbs with a calming nighttime routine (including reduced screen-time in the evening!) will help give you a friendly, sleep-inducing nudge. Before you know it, you’ll be getting amazing, rejuvenating sleep.

1. Chamomile

Suffering from sleepless nights? Sip on chamomile before hitting the pillow! Praised for its sleep-inducing powers, chamomile busts stress and promotes a healthy sleep cycle. The subtle, fruit-flavored herb comes from a daisy-like plant,. It’s  normally consumed as a tea in order to get its soothing effect.

Excerpts attribute its incredible calming abilities to certain flavanoids in chamomile. These compounds bind to brain receptors and have a sedative effect on your overall system. Besides acting as a sleep aid, chamomile tea has other health benefits. It can relieve headaches, soothe an upset stomach, and fight free radicals to clear up acne!

Brew yourself a cup of Chamomile Tea tonight!

2. Valerian Root

Do you experience insomnia on the reg? Do you spend each and every night feeling nervous and restless? Valerian might be the herb for you. Widely respected and used throughout the world, Valerian Root is an all natural herb with powerful anti-anxiety and sedative effects.

Despite its potency and effectiveness, Valerian carries far fewer side effects than prescription sleeping pills. That means you won’t feel sluggish and drowsy in the A.M. So how exactly does this seemingly incredible herb help you get better ZZZs? Well, research says Valerian encourages your brain to release GABA. This neurotransmitter that has a calming and sedating effect in larger amounts. Wow!

3. Ashwagandha

Stress plays a huge role when it comes to sleeplessness. This notorious sleep villain floods the body with cortisol. That  throws off your circadian rhythms, invites blood sugar fluctuations, and depletes your body’s energy reserves. The result? Major sleep troubles. For many, preventing insomnia begins with tackling stress head-on.

The spectacular Ayurvedic herb Ashwagandha can help you do just that. Used for centuries in India to treat numerous disorders, Ashwagandha balances your adrenals. In the end, it addresses the overflow of stress hormones and helps your nervous system return to a stable, regulated state.

In addition to all that, it’s a powerful antioxidant with anti-microbial properties. It will help you fight anxiety while inducing quality sleep, and your body will feel rejuvenated.

4. Lavender

For those who only experience sleep disturbances now and then, lavender acts as a light and gentle sleep aid with virtually no side effects. Thanks to its mood-relaxing properties, lavender can help you drift off into dreamland and achieve a more restful slumber. Simply sniffing the herb’s sweet scent is enough to reap its sleep-inducing benefits.

In a study monitoring people’s brain scans, research showed that those who sniffed lavender essential oil before hitting the pillow slept more soundly and felt more rested in the morning than those who didn’t.

Did you know lavender acts as a natural stress-reducing aromatherapy? Learn more about the soothing impact of aromatherapy on the brain by checking out Aromatherapy for Stress Reduction?

5. Passionflower

If you find yourself waking up throughout the night or switching sleep positions constantly, passionflower might serve you quite well. Praised for its sleep-inducing properties by traditional herbalists, passionflower comes from a climbing shrub native to tropical areas within the United States.

For centuries, people have used this healing herb to address anxiety, seizures, and hysteria, along with insomnia. By alleviating anxiety and having a soothing effect on your system, passionflower helps eliminate an interrupted sleep schedule. So, you can get your snooze on with no distractions. Enjoy a warm cup of passionflower tea before bed, or ingest passion flower extract, available in a tincture or sold as capsules.

Getting a good night’s sleep is critical for maintaining great health. For more soul-soothing remedies that’ll help you get the slumber you so deserve, check out these 5 Teas for the Best Night’s Sleep, or consider making these 5 Small Changes for Better Sleep.

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